(Corrects gender in 11th para)

COLOMBO, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced by the latest fighting in northern Sri Lanka and the conflict has made it difficult for humanitarian workers to give assistance, officials said on Thursday.

Officials and aid agencies say tens of thousands of people have fled their homes following an escalation in hostilities between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"Among those displaced -- most of whom headed towards Kilinochchi -- are people who have had to abandon their homes several times in recent months," the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in an statement.

Fighting between the military and the Tamil Tiger rebels has intensified since the government formally pulled out of a six-year-old ceasefire pact in January.

Analysts say the military has an advantage in the latest phase of the war given its superior air power, strength of numbers and swathes of terrain captured in the island's east, but they still see no clear winner on the horizon.

The military said on Thursday its troops killed 14 Tamil Tiger rebels and lost two of its own in clashes a day earlier.

According to a compilation of military data, about 5,748 rebels have been killed in the fighting this year, while 758 government troops have died.

Both sides frequently underplay their losses and exaggerate their victories, and independent verification of their claims is difficult to obtain.

Official figures show recent fighting has displaced 47,494 people from 11,891 families in the northern rebel held districts of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu where the fighting is concentrated.

Government agent Emenda Sukumar, who was injured in shelling blamed on the military a week ago, said food supplies were adequate, but securing health care, water, sanitation and shelter were a problem.

"Though NGOs take responsibility to make large temporary shelters, they take weeks of time to make them. As a result, poeple are compelled to stay shades of trees during the day time," she said.

The Tigers are fighting for an independent state in north and east Sri Lanka for ethnic Tamils, a minority in the predominantly Sinhalese country. (Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by David Fox)

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